So this tank has been an ongoing struggle. The tank is a RedSea Reefer 350 (90g) that I bought after having success with my RedSea Reefer Nano (29g.) I'm pretty much running them the same way (the Nano is still active) but this 350 is driving me to my wit's end. I've told my wife more than once I'm ready to just throw it in the yard.
The latest issue is some kind of algae. I don't have a lot of experience with this, so I can't tell if it's some type of hair algae, bryopsis, or even lyngbya. I know when I brush it with a toothbrush, it easily comes off the rocks. It grows on almost everything, well-lit or not. It's growing on the underside of the rocks ledges and in the "cave" areas. In those areas it's much paler in color. It's also attached to the corners of the tank and will grow, though nothing like on the rocks. It grows on the pumps, etc. I've seen it also grow on the back wall but it doesn't seem to do as well there or on the other glass panes. The one place I've NOT seen it grow on, is the sand. Though that could be, because I have a diamond goby that turns the sand over constantly.
In the light, it's relatively red in color. In the pics I'm uploading for this, I took them with my Nikon and edited them in Lightroom, so they're about as accurate to what I see with my eyes as I can get.
It will also grow on corals. I'm having a hard time keeping it off a favia in this tank (pic included.) I'm not sure what to do about this either...
I'm sure y'all will want some quick stats on the tank... It was started in November 2021. It started with dry marco rock that I bleach cured and then I used dry special-grade sand. It's running 3x Radion G5 Blues on the AB+ template that's very slightly modified (adjusted the cyan.) I'm at about 40% on intensity, and at the last measurement, I was around 65-150ish PAR.
I have an Apex and Trident that monitors everything:
Salinity: 35
ORP: 459
pH: 8.1-8.25
Temp: 77.8-78.4
Alk: 8.2-8.5
Ca: 430-450
Mg: 1320-1340
Measured this morning with a Hanna checker:
NO3: 19.8
PO4: 1.28
I'm dosing Kalkwasser and supplementing that with TM All 4 Reef. I'm running NOPOX (12ml/day) and also have been dosing H2O2 for around a month (10ml 2x/day.) The hydrogen peroxide has had no noticeable effect. All of that dosing is done via a ReefDose 4. I'm also hand-dosing KZ Pohl's and Coral Care, as well as using KZ CyanoClean, with KZ Coral Snow pretty regularly. I also use AquaForest's Pro Bio S.
If you have questions or if there's more info/clarification I can provide I'm happy to do so. I really want this to improve, and I really want to stop having corals struggle in this tank. My Nano is going great, and I just can't figure out what's going on in this thing.
The latest issue is some kind of algae. I don't have a lot of experience with this, so I can't tell if it's some type of hair algae, bryopsis, or even lyngbya. I know when I brush it with a toothbrush, it easily comes off the rocks. It grows on almost everything, well-lit or not. It's growing on the underside of the rocks ledges and in the "cave" areas. In those areas it's much paler in color. It's also attached to the corners of the tank and will grow, though nothing like on the rocks. It grows on the pumps, etc. I've seen it also grow on the back wall but it doesn't seem to do as well there or on the other glass panes. The one place I've NOT seen it grow on, is the sand. Though that could be, because I have a diamond goby that turns the sand over constantly.
In the light, it's relatively red in color. In the pics I'm uploading for this, I took them with my Nikon and edited them in Lightroom, so they're about as accurate to what I see with my eyes as I can get.
It will also grow on corals. I'm having a hard time keeping it off a favia in this tank (pic included.) I'm not sure what to do about this either...
I'm sure y'all will want some quick stats on the tank... It was started in November 2021. It started with dry marco rock that I bleach cured and then I used dry special-grade sand. It's running 3x Radion G5 Blues on the AB+ template that's very slightly modified (adjusted the cyan.) I'm at about 40% on intensity, and at the last measurement, I was around 65-150ish PAR.
I have an Apex and Trident that monitors everything:
Salinity: 35
ORP: 459
pH: 8.1-8.25
Temp: 77.8-78.4
Alk: 8.2-8.5
Ca: 430-450
Mg: 1320-1340
Measured this morning with a Hanna checker:
NO3: 19.8
PO4: 1.28
I'm dosing Kalkwasser and supplementing that with TM All 4 Reef. I'm running NOPOX (12ml/day) and also have been dosing H2O2 for around a month (10ml 2x/day.) The hydrogen peroxide has had no noticeable effect. All of that dosing is done via a ReefDose 4. I'm also hand-dosing KZ Pohl's and Coral Care, as well as using KZ CyanoClean, with KZ Coral Snow pretty regularly. I also use AquaForest's Pro Bio S.
If you have questions or if there's more info/clarification I can provide I'm happy to do so. I really want this to improve, and I really want to stop having corals struggle in this tank. My Nano is going great, and I just can't figure out what's going on in this thing.
